Magic, Mystics, and Mayhem

World – Species

Humans, Elves, and Other Common Species

Most of the inhabitants of Lath are humans, elves, and dwarves. None of these species are native, but instead migrated from Lyrashia. After war and drought destroyed much of Lyrashia, many people to sought somewhere better to live. This brought them to Lath. Though they often live in cities together and work side by side, there is still a lot of separation between them. It isn’t that they can’t be friends, but old habits from Lyrashia often drive them to “keep to their own kind.”

Humans are the most abundant species on Lath. This is largely due to most of the early colonists being humans. During the war on Lyrashia, the last hold out city, Windfall, smuggled anyone who could pay off of the continent. Since humans had been the least hard hit by the war, they were the ones that were most able to pay. This resulted in larger numbers of humans colonizing Lath. When the king began conquering the country, humans were the first to back him and given the highest positions in his army. The effects of this are still being seen today with humans being the most common species ruling provinces in Lath.

Elves take up the second most populated spot on Lath. There are two types of elves: norther and southern. Neither of these relate to where in Lath they live. Instead, it is a reference to what part of Lyrashia their ancestors came form. Nothern elves tend to be shorter in stature with tanned skin, dark hair, and brown eyes while southern elves are fair skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes. Like humans, elves were early followers of the king and were reward with territories. Elves rule several provinces, mostly in the west where most elves live. Unlike humans, elves have preferred to keep their tradition of arranged marriages. They are the last species on Lath to still hold onto this tradition outside of the upperclass. As a result, they are the least likely to allow marriages with other species.

Though much smaller in number, dwarves also live on Lath as well. The largest group of dwarves live in the far south of Lath where they are primarily builders. Dwarves have a long history of building some of the sturdiest structures in the world. This most likely stems from their Lyrashian home built over several fault lines. Lath dwarves are builders of some of the most impressive buildings all across Lath, but none are quite so impressive as the church to Ral in the province of Ziifan, the furthest south province in Lath.

Mages and Psychics

While not a separate species per se, mages and psychics do have powers that separate them from humans, elves, and dwarves. This comes from their abilities to manipulate the world around them with their inherit abilities. Becoming a mage or psychic is not something someone can learn to be. You must be born one. It is inherited in families. For reasons that are not known, mages are always female and psychics are always male.

Though they do have some powers that cross, mages and psychics are quite different from each other. Mages deal with physical abilities, often elemental in nature. Psychics deal with altering the mind. Both can be healers or communicate through dreamscapes but these are the only powers the two share.

In terms of culture, both mages and psychics have a long history of isolating themselves and carefully training their children away from the rest of the world. Most of all, they kept away from each other. Mages and psychics have a long history of not getting along. Much of this changed when they were forced out of Lyrashia. During the last war on Lyrashia, mages and psychics were targeted and few escaped. When they came to Lath, fearing more backlash from the other colonists, the two teamed up and have often worked together since. After the kings death, they even worked together to create the stones that keep the mythrin servants of the princes. This last act has cemented their place among the people of Lath and made them seem like heros to most.

Wood Elves

With big ears, horns, and stripes, wood elves are one of the most recognizable species on Lath. Like mythrin and dracony, wood elves are one on the original inhabitants of Lath and were some of the first people humans met when they arrived. Unlike mythrin and dracony, they have fared better since the death of the king. They are still alive despite policies that have sought to wipe them out and have maintained relative freedom in most of Lath, though they are often confined to certain parcels of land. This freedom has come with a heavy price, though. Wood elves have lost much of their culture, including their original language. Some of this comes from their own interest to adopt new ideas and some from laws forcing abandonment of their beliefs. As of today, most wood elves don’t know much of their own history from before humans arrived and very little of the history since has painted them in a good light.

In Mertia and Lomatia, wood elves are confined to parcels of land that they work as sharecroppers. Some of what they farm, they keep. The rest is paid to the lord or lady that owns the land as the wood elves’ yearly taxes. Outside of harvest and collection months, wood elves are largely ignored. The only exception is if they are seen walking around without the proper papers. Wood elves in both provinces must acquire permission to travel around, and it is given out sporadically. Rejections are rarely explained, and as far as the wood elves can tell, someone just seems to be flipping a coin to determine if they get them or not.